Howard Floyd Bier (August 20, 1919 – May 16, 2025) was an American politician in the state of

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

and

World War 2 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilisin ...

veteran.

Life and career

During

, he was stationed in Italy and fixed airplanes for the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. He served in the

North Dakota House of Representatives The North Dakota House of Representatives is the lower house of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly and is larger than the North Dakota Senate. North Dakota is divided into between 40 and 54 legislative districts apportioned by population as ...

from 1959 to 1972, and as Speaker of the House from 1971 to 1972. Bier married Melvena Beahm McLeish (1920–2025) in October 1988. They split between living in

Hazelton, North Dakota Hazelton is a city in Emmons County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 223 at the 2020 census. History Hazelton was founded in 1902. Hazelton was named after Hazel, John Roop's daughter. To combat population loss, city leaders o ...

most of the year and

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 504,258 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, third-most populous city in Arizona, after Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, T ...

, in the winter until 2000, when they moved to

Bismarck, North Dakota Bismarck (; from 1872 to 1873: Edwinton) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat, seat of Burleigh County, North Dakota, Burleigh County. It is the state's List of cities i ...

full-time. He

turned 100 A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

in August 2019. In 2023, he was said to be in good health and sharp, albeit with some hearing loss. Bier died on May 16, 2025, at the age of 105.

References

1919 births 2025 deaths American men centenarians Republican Party members of the North Dakota House of Representatives Speakers of the North Dakota House of Representatives North Dakota State College of Science alumni 20th-century members of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly {{NorthDakota-politician-stub American military personnel of World War II